Ball collecting trough for pool tables



J n 1953 F. E. ELERSICH BALL COLLECTING TROUGH FOR POOL. TABLES FiledApril 10, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Frank 5. E lersich INVENTOR.

June 1953 F. E. ELERSICH 0,

BALL COLLECTING TROUGH FOR POOL TABLES Filed April 10, 1950 2sheets-sheet 2 Fig.2

Frank E. E lerslbh IINVENTOR.

Patented June 2, 1953 BALL LCOL-LECTINGETR OUGH. FOR.;POQL;T.;

TABL S Frank E-iTElrsic'hiNorth flollywoodjCalit-" zApplicmtio'neAflril'il 0, '1950, Serial-N: 21547927: Kbffilili'fsi (Cl.273- 12) the'rtabl'e l and underlying-said openings" and adapted'zto.retain balls passing through th e openings; 2ther'einQuntil-the -troughsare manua-lly de pressed to release the bal-lsw A further object of thepresent invention is to and practical in constructidn td permit the sameto be available to the purchasing public at a reasonable cost.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide a pool tablethat is strong and reliable in use, small and compact in structure,inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposesfor which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view looking at the top of the presentinvention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view looking at the bottom of the presentinvention;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantiallyon the plane of section line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the present pool table andwith parts broken away and shown in section;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the planeof section line 5-5 of Figure 1; and,

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 and showing the manner in which aball is released from one of the pocket-forming troughs.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the numeral It! represents a substantially rectangular gameboard the side edges I2 of which are received in recesses [4 in theinner sloping faces l6 of elongated strips H3. The strips [8 extend wellabove the upper surface of the game board to confine balls upon the gameboard.

A base rotatably supports the game board and includes a circular baseplate 20 and a, plurality of super-imposed disks 22 that are interposedbetween the base plate 20 and the game board I0.

troughs depending srrom V .10.- provide a pool tablethat"is"extremelylsirnple"' thedis ks 2 2 s. Tlielendsizof the piIiH-Z 4are flattened; l

in; recesses-2 6 and .2 illinth'eunDer.fiatsurfacei .of..'fj

.the board 10 and'th'e lower flatsurface.ofjtli'e,-

base p1ate2 0.1:. V U

The=game looardv .I 0 is provided. with. openings;

3 0 1 at. :it's -corners and-Jet its 1d gi Q iq edges ,medially' ethe:endswof thelboardsl Th'el openings are sufficiently. largeastofiperm'it a game-.

ball'B ilto pass .tli'erethrough.

An elongated and flexible pocket-forming channel or trough 32 isassociated with each of the openings 30. The troughs 32 underlie theopenings 30 and include side edges 34 and 36 that are suitably securedto the undersurface of the game board and the undersurfaces of thestrips 8. The troughs 32 all extend transversely of the board Ill andthe depth of the troughs is sufiicient to accommodate the balls B, asshown in Figure 5.

In order to release the balls from the troughs 32, the troughs 32 aremanually depressed, as shown in Figure 6, to permit the balls to beejected from a selected open end of the troughs and into a user's hand.Since all troughs extend transversely of the board 10 the balls can bedischarged laterally from the side edges of the board at which thetroughs are located thereby avoiding any confusion in releasing theballs from the troughs.

The inner faces of the strips, the upper surface of the game board andthe edges defining the openings 30 are suitably covered with a soft,preferably rayon flocking, covering to better the control of the ballsand to reduce noise as well as cushion the balls.

It should be noted that the disks 22 are highly finished, polished orwaxed to permit the table 10 to rotate against the disks 22 and the baseplate 20 with ease.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a pool table including a board having a group of ball receivingopenings therein and a peripheral edge, an elongated flexiblepocket-forming open ended trough underlying and extending diametricallyacross each opening and secured to the undersurface of said board, thelongitudinal axes of said troughs lying in a common plane that isparallel to the plane of the board, said troughs adapted to receive andretain balls passing through the openings until the troughs are manuallydepressed, said troughs each having an open end at the peripheral edgeof the board.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein all of said troughs extendtransversely of said board.

3. In a miniature pool table including a horizontally supported boardhaving a group of ball receiving openings therein, a flexiblepocketforming open ended trough supported horizontally beneath eachopening and having longitudinal side flanges secured throughout theirlength to the undersurfaceof the board, said troughs being of sufficientdepth and width to accommodate balls passing through the openings, saidtroughs being elongated and open at their ends to permit manualdepression or the troughs to force a ball from one end thereof.

4. In a miniature pool table including a horizontally supported boardhaving a ball receiving.

opening and a peripheral edge, a flexible elongated pocket-formingtrough secured to the undersurface or the board and underlying theopening, said trough being disposed horizontally under the board andextending diametrically across the opening and having an open end at theperipheral edge of said board, said trough including side edges disposedtangential to diametrically opposite sides of the opening.

5. In a miniature pool table including a horizontally supported boardhaving side edges and openings therein spaced along said side edge, aplurality of elongated flexible horizontally disposed troughs secured tothe undersurface of the board under the openings and having open endsprojecting radially outwardly from diametrically opposite sides of theopenings so that the board will form a rolling surface for balls in thetroughs as the same are depressed to force balls from an end thereof,the troughs at one side of the board being aligned with the troughs atthe other side of the board, and said troughs each having an open end.

FRANK E. ELERSICI-I.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 810,224 Sackett Jan. 16, 1906 1,121,184 Hobbs Dec. 15, 19141,512,442 Arnold Oct. 21, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date197,021 Great Britain May 7, 1923

